EAN: 9781350400870

SAPPOL MICHAEL QUEER ANATOMIES

In centuries past  sexual body-parts and same-sex desire were un­men­­tionables de­barred from
polite conver­sa­tion and printed discourse. Yet one scientific discipline-ana­to­my-had
license to rep­re­sent and nar­rate the in­timate details of the human body-anus and genitals
in­clud­ed. Figured with­in the frame of an anatomical plate  pre­sen­ta­tions of dissected
bo­dies and body-parts were often soberly tech­ni­cal. But just as often mon­strous 
provoca­tive  flirtatious  theatri­cal  beau­tiful  and even sensual. Queer Anatomies explores
overlooked examples of erotic expression within 18th and 19th-century anatomical imagery. It
uncovers the subtle eroticism of certain anatomical illustrations  and the queerness of the men
who made  used and collected them.  As a foundational subject for physicians  surgeons and
artists in 18th- and 19th-century Europe  anatomy was a privileged  male-dominated domain.
Artistic and medical compe­tence depended on a deep knowledge of anatomy and offered cultural
legitimacy  healing authority  and aesthetic discernment to those who practiced it. The
anatomical image could serve as a virtual queer space  a private or shared closet  or a men's
club. Serious anatomical subjects were charged with erotic  often homoerotic  undertones. 
Taking brilliant works by Gautier Dagoty  William Cheselden  and Joseph Maclise  and many
others  Queer Anatomies assembles a lost archive of queer expression-115 illustra­tions  in
full-colour reproduction-that range from images of nudes  dissected bodies  penises  vaginas 
rectums  hands  faces  and skin  to scenes of male viewers gazing upon works of art governed by
anatomical principles. Yet the men who produced and savored illustrated anatomies were reticent
closeted. Diving into these textual and represen­ta­tional spaces via essayistic reflection 
Queer Anatomies decodes their words and images  even their silences. With a range of close
readings and com­par­ison of key images  this book unearths the connections between medical
history  connoisseur­ship  queer studies  and art history and the understudied relationship
between anatomy and desire.

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